Another song about the failed relationship referenced throughout the album (previously on “Clearing” and “Call Across Rooms”).
In this case, the song is about the subtle balance between holding/supporting another and wanting to be held in a relationship, and how it often turns out that one or both...
I hear you calling and I want to come
Run straight into the valleys of your arms and disappear there
But I know my love could fail you
Because in a clearing when the sunlight comes
Exposing all the shadows of/in our intricate behavior
I see/feel a sort of fading
We build our own unfolding
It's in the morning when the sadness comes
The tears fall down in patterns on the windows
And our shape is undone
You only wanted holding
And I let my structure fail you
You know, I watched as it unfolded
And in the image of the other hand
A needle drawing pictures in the blood that runs the valley
Your honesty engraves me
Stay the line
The pain of its derailing
And in the water
Where a mirror opens up
To show the gravity of non-repeating patterns
When no one else can hold you
Come in and then unfold
Oh the lines
I'm lying just to hold you
It's in the evening when the moonlight comes
Illuminating silver in the rivers as they fall/run into the sea
The beauty of their failure
As the tides erase their lining
There's nothing left to hold to
Holding was written by Liz Harris.
Holding was produced by Liz Harris.